1926 Handwritten Diary Whitaker Beverly Hills Millionaires Hollywood Mansion
Item History & Price
WELCOMETO SALLY’S DIARIES: Offeredhere is a fascinating collection from the estate of the Whitakerfamily who were prominent in Beverly Hills society during the 1920's- 1930's. The collection's highlight is the original 1926 pocketsized day-diary, carefully hand written by this early Los Angelesmillionaire, recounting his day-to-day activities in the budding LosAngeles area. Francis Whitaker was born in Pennsylvania in 1885. Hemarried his wife Margaret (an occasional actress) in 192...0 justshortly after moving to California. The Whitaker family lived at 811Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills and had several friends in the moviebusiness including Philo McCulloch, Donald McDonald, Hoot Gibson, William Morrissey, Midgie Miller, and Gertrude Childs Huntington, allof whom are referenced in the day-book.Thediary is accompanied by several pieces of vintage ephemera from theWhitaker Estate. The additional items include 1920's 8x10 portraitsof Francis and Margaret V. Whitaker. Francis Whitaker no doubt washeir to the fortune amassed by his father, Thomas Drake Whitaker(1860-1896), who organized the Whitaker Cement Company, later knownas the Alpha Portland Cement Company. Credit is given to the seniorWhitaker as being the pioneer in the cement industry in the LehighValley of Pennsylvania. Margaret(nee Plato, born in Kansas, 1893) was a one-time actress in the1920's, and was photographed in the portrait included here by thefamed George Steckel at his Los Angeles studio. Steckel has signedthe portrait in pencil at bottom right. Steckel's most famousportraits were those taken of the father of bodybuilding, EugineSandow. Alsoincluded are two 8"x10" glossy photographs of an imposingestate, itself an extraordinary piece of architecture (possibly byLos Angeles architect Carleton Winslow, a visitor mentioned in thediary) and an extremely detailed 1933 appraisal report itemizing justabout every object and piece of art within their mansion. In factthis appraisal is 100 pages long! Nowwhen I went to look up the address found on the outside of theAppraisal document, 811 N. Bedford Dr. Beverly Hills, California, itwas a different mansion than what the photos show with this lot sofurther research needs to be done. On a side note, the 1930 censusshows the couple, their son Thomas and a Pharmacist, cook, nurse andbutler living with them. Hereare a few example quotes from the diary including trips to Tijuanafor the horse races via Palm Springs, dinners at Hollywood’s firstnight club the Cafe Montmartre, openings at the Gable Club in SantaMonica, hiring of new servants, their boy being sick and havingspasms, ballgame at Wrigley Field, purchase of a Pekingese dog at astore in Ocean Park, stag dinner at the opening of the new BeverlyHills Club and in December attending the auction of Rudolph Valentinothe famous silent film star, (during this week in 1926, the estate ofthe great screen lover was auctioned to the public, including hislegendary Beverly Hills estate, Falcon Lair, just three months afterhis untimely death at age 31) and that’s just a portion of what isin this diary as you will see in the following excerpts….1926“January1st, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills California. Resting after NewYears.” “January14th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills. New maid (Adele Williams)arrived.” “January16th, At 811 Bedford Drive. Beverley Hills. New nurse (Louise Jourdan)arrived. We saw Mr. and Mrs. Fred B. Neuhoff leave for Europe fromSanta Fe Station at noon. Then I to bank, barber, etc. Mrs. LolaDurant and Mr. Charles Van Rensselair here for supper Commander A. Y.Lamphier and Mrs. Helen Wilkinson called in evening.”“February5th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills California. Margaret and Idowntown. I to barber, bank, insurance examination, etc. Margaretbought some jewelry at an auction sale at Wright, Campbell andGinder’s.” (Newcook arrives)“February20th, Margaret and I with Mr. and Mrs. Harry Brooks, left Beverly Hills inour Lincoln, David Clayton driving. At 11:15 A.M., via FranklinCanyon, Mulholland Highway, Calabasas, Ventura (lunch). Arrived SantaBarbara at 315 P.M. and went to El Encanto Hotel, rooms 80, 81, 82, and 83 (cottage). Met Mr.and Mrs. Alan Pederson, manager of the hotel.” “March7th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills California. At 4 P.M. we attendedthe house wedding of Marjorie Childs at Mr. M. E. Tyon at home ofMrs. Gertrude Childs Huntington, 605 South Wilton Place. We hadsupper at Zulu Hut on Ventura Boulevard with Mrs. Dorothy Merrick, Mr. and Mrs. Bond, Mr. Jack Ford and Mr. Clark.” “March24th, Margaret, Mrs. A. E. Whitaker and I left Beverly Hills in theLincoln, David Clayton driving. At 11 A.M. going downtown, then viaHuntington Drive, Glendora, Stewarts Inn (lunch), Upland, Ontario, Riverside and Beaumont. Arrived at Palm Springs at 5 P.M. and spentnight at Desert Inn, cottage 39. Total days run 137 miles, goodroads.” (Nextcouple days they spend at the Coronado in San Diego and it’sTijuana Mexico on the 27thwhere they attend the horse races) “April7th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills. Margaret and Mrs. A. E. Whitakerhad lunch at Hotel Biltmore with Mrs. Harry Brooks, then to matineeat Orpheum Theater, then to a tea at Mrs. Jean Rockerby’s.” “April24th, Misty near Ventura. Margaret, Mrs. A. E. Whitaker, and I left at11:30 A.M. in the Lincoln, David Clayton driving; via Laurel Canyon, Calabasas, Ventura. Arrived Santa Barbara at 3 P.M. and went to ElEncanto Hotel. We had supper with Mrs. Durant, Mr. David Coolidge andMr. Charles Van Rensseloar at El Mirasol Hotel.” “April29th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Margaretand I downtown about our suit against Kenneth Brainard. Depositionstaken at his lawyer’s office, Mr. Chamberlain, Title InsuranceBuilding 5thand Spring. Our lawyer, Mr. Davis of Roger Marchette’s office.” “May29th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Margaretand I in the Cadillac, David Clayton driving and Mr. and Mrs. Neuhoffin their Cadillac. Left at noon via Pomona and San Bernerdino.Arrived Lake Arrowhead at 5 P.M. and spent night at Arlington Lodge.Big crowd because of holidays and service poor. 95 miles, BeverlyHills to Lake Arrowhead.” “June7th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Wehad supper atMontmartre Cafe, Hollywood, with Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Neuhoff. Then allwent to see “Charlots Review” a good musical show at El CapitanTheatre, Hollywood.” “June16th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills. Margarethad lunch at Biltmore with Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Cook, then went withthem to a matinee at the Orpheum. In evening we saw Irene Bordoni in“Naughty Cinderella, ” a good musical show at Biltmore Theatre.”“July20th, At 811Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills. Margaretto lunch and cards at the Los Angeles Country Club given by Mrs.Dorothy Merrick. Mr. E. B. Reynolds called in afternoon. We hadsupper at Beverly Tea Room with Mrs. Helen Wilkinson. Later Mr. andMrs. Ted Rackerly, Miss Margaret Landis, Mrs. Merrick, Mr. E. Lyman, Mr. Jack Ford, Paul Nelson and several others called. Late party.Margaret had her cigarette case stolen.” “August14th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills. We wentto the wedding of Mrs. Dorothy Merrick and Mr. J. W. Ford 3rdat 9 A.M. at a church at Wilshire and Plymouth Boulevards. Then wewent to San Pedro to see them sail for Honolulu at noon on SS “Cityof Los Angeles.” Mr. and Mrs. Neuhoff went with us in theLocomobile. Lunch at Marchetti’s Cafe, 5thand Western.” “September6th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills. LaborDay holiday. Mrs. Pilato and Miss Marion Linder called. We had supperwith Mr. Eddie Lyman at a Spanish Cafe in Hollywood. Frieda and PaulNeuhouse, new help, arrived.” “September24th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Fiveof our finches died. Mr. C. M. Winslow (architect) called.”“October20th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Margaretand I down town to court about our lawsuit against Brainard. Casepostponed. We had lunch at Hotel Biltmore and I ordered some clothesfrom Sulka’s representative, also 2 suits from Hugo Schmidt. Mr.Eddie Lyman called in evening.” “October26th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Margaretto lunch and bridge at Mrs. Harry Brooks. Mrs. Neuhoff and MrsCornish also there. Mr. and Mrs. Black, Mr. Eddie Lyman and Mr.Penncorthy called in evening. I went to a stag dinner at opening ofnew Beverly Hills Club. Big crowd.”“October30th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Margaretand I left at 10 A.M. in the Lincoln via Western Avenue, Long Beach(Tommy and his nurse, Mary Smith, that far). Then to San Pedro to see“Carinthia” land on round world cruise but too late. Then homevia Redondo and Venice. Miss Rita Shobe here for supper and spentnight.” “November17th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Wewith Mrs. Plato, David Clayton driving, left in the Lincoln at 3 P.M.via Beverly Boulevard, Topanga Canyon, Calabasas, Ventura, arrivedSanta Barbara at 6:30 P.M. Took Mrs. Plato to Cottage Hospital and wewent to Hotel El Mirasol. Charles Van Renseeleur called in evening.”“November28th, At Hotel Del Coronado. We spent the day at the Tia Juana races, thenleft Coronado at 6:30 P.M. in the Lincoln via Del Mars, Capistranoand Santa Anna. Arrival home at 12:30 A.M.” “December4th, At 811 BedfordDrive, Beverly Hills. Idowntown to pay tax bills, etc. Wehad supper at Club Casa del Mar with Mr and Mrs. Neuhoff, Mr. andMrs. Plaezek, Miss Murphy, Mrs. Foley and Mr. _____. Carnival night, big crowd. We later in Cornish Room, met a lot of people. Late party.I bought a toy dog.”“December14th, At 811 Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills. Margaretand Mrs. Cornish went to an auction of Rudolph Valentino’s thingsin Hollywood. Ella (cook) arrived.” There is so much more tothis diary and this lot that deserves further research. The cover ofthe diary is worn and a bit torn, especially around the edges but thepages and binding look good. It measures about 3 1/2” x 5 3/4”.All of the other items in this lot are in great shape.
